Regional budget 10/31/07

Tuesday

GateHouse News Service Regional Budget (10/31/07)
Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com
*Please check this Web site in the evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.
Contacts:
Regional Editor Jonie Larson, (217) 816-3343, jlarson@gatehousemedia.com
National Editor Jean Hodges, (630) 348-3350, jhodges@gatehousemedia.com

POLITICAL STORMS – this Sunday.
When disaster befalls your town, do you get federal aid? A GateHouse News Service project shows that the president decides based on politics, not need or compassion. Project to run Nov. 4. See stories, graphics, photos and multimedia on the news service under GHNS News/special reports.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/news/special_reports

News

BEQUEST JACKSONVILLE: A Jacksonville couple has been honored for a sizeable bequest to Shriners Hospitals for Children in St. Louis. Milo Gregory, who died in 2002 at age 92, and Margaret (McClain) Gregory, who died at age 84 earlier this year, left $700,000 to the hospital and the hospital named its orthotics and prosthetics department for the Gregorys. Green photo available SPRINGFIELD/this evening/Illinois News

REPORT CARDS: The just-issued 2007 Illinois school report cards, which provide in-depth looks at public schools and how students fared on standardized tests, differ from the 2006 report cards in one notable way: They're on time.Because of a series of problems, the 2006 report cards weren't released publicly until March 2007, months past their Oct. 31 due date. COLINDRES/CAPITOL BUREAU/this evening but embargoed to publish until Oct. 31.

STATE TESTS: (Good one to localize) State embargo lifts on state test results from spring 2007. The data will be used to create school report cards for every school and district in the state. Angles are developing but the main bar will take us through the schools that did the best, those that struggled and those that showed the most improvement. KOLKEY/ROCKFORD/this evening/lllinois (can’t publish until after midnight)
5R ANGLE: More schools failed to make AYP under NCLB as should be expected. The annual target for adequate progress is continuing to increase and soon may be out of reach for many schools - especially those in intense urban settings. With refers to coverage inside including our annual rankings of every school in the RRV, capsules of districts, and any sidebars.*

AL-MAARI HEARING: Al-Marri is going to have his case heard Wednesday by the full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Will preview and see if anything has happened since that time. KRAVETZ/PEORIA/this evening/Illinois News

HALLOWEEN TEETH: Talking to local dentists about protecting your kids teeth this Halloween season. You might think one day of candy won't hurt, but for many kids, they eat their bucket down to the bottom, which can cause teeth problems. HILYARD/PEORIA/this evening/Illinois News

TURNING A PROFIT: The President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center in Springfield is turning a profit after a court appointed receiver took over operations. The hotel was built with the help of a state-backed loan and was only required to pay on the loan when the hotel was profitable. Before the state started foreclosure proceedings, the hotel made only two payments since 1998. FINKE/CAPITOL BUREAU/this evening/Illinois

DELINQUENTS BECOME VICTIMS: Juveniles who run afoul of Illinois law often become victims themselves of a court system that provides inadequate attorneys, overuses plea bargains and lacks essential resources, a study released today (Wednesday) concludes. HUEPEL/CAPITOL BUREAU/this evening/Illinois

CHARTER SCHOOLS: A Rockford School District committee discusses public charter schools - which operate independently but are paid for with public school dollars - and whether one should be considered here. Meeting is 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ROCKFORD/moving late/Illinois News

MORE MONEY FOR WIU?: Now, with the Senate having unanimously passed Gov. Rod Blagojevich's $25.4 billion "Illinois Works" capital budget, Springfield may be the closest it has been to implementing a capitol budget this decade, and that means a lot of money could be heading into Western Illinois. MACOMB/this evening/Illinois News

Business

NUKES COST: Ogle County supervisor of assessments files new assessment of what it believes the value of Byron's nuke plant is; new total $525 million, up from $435 last year. What does this mean as litigation between the Byron School District (begun in February) and Exelon mean? ROCKFORD/this evening/Illinois News

SMALL BIZ SURVIVOR: People mistake Careavan for a social service agency or not-for-profit. It's actually a private business where the challenge will be to provide services as the population it serves - Baby Boomers - pass into retirement. ROCKFORD/this evening/Illinois News

METROCENTRE: A user's guide to the remodeled MetroCentre (or what is finished of the remodeled Metrocentre) as it prepares to debut with the home opener of the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. ROCKFORD/this evening/Illinois News

Sports

ILLINOIS FOOTBALL: Illinois know jsut what to expect from Minnesota, a team that's fighting for pride in its first season under coach Tim Brewster. The Gophers are playing for pride. Illinois was in that same position in the last few years. Illinois football notes. SUPINIE. Champaign. Illinois sports and Big Ten. Moving this evening.

ILLINOIS BASKETBALL: Trent Meacham and Steve Holdren, two former Champaign Centennial stars, get the first crack at the open shooting guard spot when Illinois opens exhibition play against Division II Quincy Wednesday. SUPINIE. Champaign. Illinois sports and Big Ten. Moving this evening.